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In October 2009, a new campaign to raise the minimum wage for Asian garment workers was launched. This initiative is known as the Asian House Salary Campaign and was initiated by a large number of NGOs and people from Asia, Europe and the US Trade Union. One of the main proposals is that AFW requires a minimum living wage for Asian workers in the garment industry.
This document states that BSCI's attitude toward wages is the same as reflected in the BSCI Code of Conduct and Implementation Guidelines.
There are three possibilities for affecting workers' wages: local industry wages, legal minimum wages, and minimum living wages.
Local industry wages
The wages of the local industry are wages that are generally paid by specific industries in the region. It may be higher or higher than the legal minimum wage.
Local social partners (trade unions and workers) set wages. Antitrust and competition laws make it impossible for retailers and brand companies to regulate wages in the local industry.
The BSCI Code of Conduct requires wages to be paid according to industry standards, when it exists, or in case it is higher than the statutory wage.
Legally prescribed wages
The statutory minimum wage is set by the national government and determines the minimum wage based on the cost of consumption that meets the basic needs of workers.
The BSCI Code of Conduct requires payment of statutory minimum wages and overtime allowances.
In many developing countries, workers are unable to receive a statutory minimum wage, and for the factory, the payment of statutory wages has long been a daunting task. These wages can also be artificially reduced to attract foreign investment and win export orders, and can also be used to protect intensive export industries, such as the clothing industry.
When the statutory wages are too low, there will be different chain reactions. Low wages explain why workers work overtime.
It also led to child labor problems because parents could not earn enough money to support their families and send their children to work.
As experts have suggested, minimum wages often have no way to meet the basic needs of workers and families. Therefore, the local government must take into account the increase in the cost of basic product consumption, and gradually adjust the minimum wage for workers.
Controversial minimum living wage
There is no universally accepted minimum living wage definition
The minimum living wage means that someone can maintain him or his family. BSCI fully supports the idea that workers should earn enough wages to meet their basic needs (food, rent) and at least some of their disposable income.
Things get more complicated when trying to determine how a minimum living wage should be calculated. What is the size of an ordinary family? What is the income that can be arbitrarily controlled? Many definitions, methods, and methodologies have emerged over the past decade, but none have been consistently accepted.
SA8000's minimum living wage calculation method
The best practice of BSCI is the social standard of SA8000, which requires a minimum living wage. The International Social Responsibility Review Agency (SAI) monitors/manages the payment of minimum living wages based on a comprehensive quality and quantity analysis.
Quantitative analysis refers to the minimum living wage as a basic requirement to provide sufficient food for the daily diet and the surplus of the worker, and an average of half of the population in that area depends on the family's 10% discretionary extra income. Quality analysis was used by SA8000 auditors, including comparisons of company unions in the region (providing independent unions in the region) and employee interviews.
The use of quality and quantity methods in the audit confirms a result in different results.
The SA8000 is calculated in a manner similar to the criteria for assessing a family's basic food needs or supporting dependents in household expenses. Defining such a standard is a big challenge/test for monitoring/controlling its implementation in reality. To be precise, the way in which wages are calculated has to be built on the local environment, almost the most basic situation, which requires a lot of work. When the local union uses another calculation to provide a minimum living wage, the auditor will use the government's framework to ask him to calculate the salary.
NGOs will provide an assessment wage that is very different from the union.
There is no clear liability for paying the minimum living wage
If you need to pay the minimum living wage, the following three important roles will play a positive role:
1. Suppliers: Are they willing to get a small (profit) difference?
2. Retailers: Can they accept less profit or give consumers a higher cost?
3. Consumers: Do they intend to pay more?
Ways to solve the problem: Pass BSCI certification
Local lobbying for increased sustainability
BSCI believes that raising wages for garment workers in a sustainable manner is through local laws and regulations and based on stakeholder discussions.
BSCI is therefore committed to providing a national roundtable of networks, bringing together local governments, trade unions, NGOs, and representatives of apparel manufacturers and exporters associations. Those roundtables help to resolve strategic issues such as wages and local government who take responsibility and ensure worker welfare.
Extreme way
For paying wages, the BSCI Code of Conduct takes two extreme approaches, requiring compliance with the local statutory minimum wage and a minimum living wage paid on a voluntary basis with each supplier.
The issue of minimum living wages is recorded on the BSCI questionnaire. As an external, independent auditor of the BSCI audit, the necessary gap analysis must be performed. The goal is to negotiate this point with the supplier, check the minimum living wages with a strong desire and try to help the workers reach the benefits of the wage earners. Despite this, the implementation of the minimum living wage is still voluntary. The procedure is generally in line with the development of BSCI, as in many countries, achieving compliance with the statutory minimum wage has long been a test.
BSCI believes that there will be major problems in AFW activities, and we will encourage Asian governments, especially Bangladesh, to discuss the issues that arise.
